Sun Pharma to Acquire US-Based Checkpoint

Indian multinational pharma company Sun Pharmaceutical Industries on Monday announced a definitive agreement to acquire Nasdaq-listed immunotherapy and targeted oncology firm Checkpoint Therapeutics for an upfront cash payment of $355 million (around ₹3,099.51 crore).

- ANJALI SINGH

The deal is expected to close in the second quarter of the 2025 calendar year. Sun Pharma will acquire all outstanding shares of Checkpoint at $4.10 per share in cash, representing a 66 per cent premium to the US company's closing share price on March 7.

Checkpoint stockholders will also receive a contingent value right of up to $0.70 per share if cosibelimab secures regulatory approval in select European markets.

The deal will add Checkpoint's recently FDA-approved cancer treatment, UNLOXCYT (cosibelimab-ipdl), to its portfolio. UNLOXCYT is the first and only FDA-approved anti-PD-L1 treatment for metastatic or locally advanced cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma (cSCC), a form of skin cancer.